Now How Did This Happen?
by Breathing101
Summary: When Draco and Ginny get into another fight, Proffesor Mcgonagle sees that the only way that this could possible end is to send them to couseling
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I never will. You don't have to remind me.

**Now How Did This Happen?**

**Chapter 1: Counseling**

Ginny looked up into the smug face of Draco Malfoy. She couldn't take his tormenting anymore, that smug idiot. Behind her back she raised a fist, making sure he couldn't see it, and punched him in the eye.

"Owe..." He yelled, falling back onto the floor. Regaining his composure with surprising agility, he removed his wand from the pocket of his robes. "Stupefy!" he screamed.

Ginny ducked out of the way, and she pulled out her own wand, "Furunculous!" Fungus spread all over the boy's body.

He quickly said the levitation spell and Ginny was floating over his head. "Put me down Malfoy," She said dangerously.

"Not until you call me the supreme ruler of the universe and remove this god awful spell."

"How about this, you put me down and I don't put you in a body bind?" Ginny asked.

"As you wish," he said, she fell to the ground with a deafening 'thud.'

"Malfoy," Her voice thundered down the corridor.

Ginny raised her wand and pointed it at him. "I'm going to make you wish you were never bor..."

"Miss Weasley!" a shocked voice said," I insist you desist immediately." Ginny turned around to see professor Mcgonagle and immediately lowered her wand.

"You two!" Mcgonagle thundred,"That's the fifth time this week, can't you guys be civil for one minute in each others presence.

'Not a chance,' both Draco and Ginny thought.

"This school can't take this anymore, you will both be going to counseling together," She said matter-of-factly.

"What!" Ginny yelled.

"You can't be serious," Draco, said," What kind of counseling?" he asked.

"Every weekday at 6:30 and at 2:00 on Saturdays until you two learn to tolerate each other, Professor Sinistra will be leading your sessions."

"Ever...Every...Every Night," Draco sputtered. "You mean I only get one day off a week from that thing!"

"That is the exactly what I said Mr. Malfoy." Mcgonagle said. "Tonight you will meet Professor Sinistra in my classroom at 6:25."

"We start tonight?" Ginny asked in a low growly voice.

"Yes, as this obviously cannot wait...Now get to your next class," She barked.

Ginny and Draco stalked off in opposite directions. Fuming at the other.

"I have to talk to her," Ron said, jumping out of his seat," I have to talk her out of this." Ginny had just told Harry, Ron, and Hermione about her impending doom, and Ron was definitely not pleased.

"It's no use," Ginny sighed," There's no changing her mind."

"You can't just go through with this, he'll kill you."

"I don't have a choice," Ginny said. It would have been her choice not to tell the trio at all, to just tell her own friends, but she figured they would find out soon anyway.

"Every day!" Ron shrieked, his voice getting higher and higher.

"Except Sunday," Ginny said. She got up and walked out of the common room. Hoping Luna or Colin would be hanging around somewhere. No luck.

At exactly 6:25 she was standing next to the desk in professor Mcgonagle office. Neither Malfoy nor Professor Sinistra had arrived yet.

The door swung open and in walked Malfoy himself with a look of severe distaste on his face. He saw Ginny and scowled darkly. She returned the favor.

The door opened again and in walked professor Sinistra. She smiled brightly. "Hello there!" she said excitedly.

"Hello," Ginny muttered along with Draco.

"Follow me," the professor said, opening the door," We're not having counseling in here," She said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We just needed to find a place you both knew how to get to to meet."

Draco nodded and followed the professor," Coming Weasley?" He asked. She nodded disgustedly and followed.

They followed Professor Sinistra down a corridor as she continued to talk. "This first session I will talk to each of you about what your problems with the other about the other. The next five or so sessions I will oversee while you guys talk just to make sure you don't kill each other," She said brightly. "After that you will be left alone. I will check on you every once in a while to see how much progress you've been making."

They reached a door that Ginny suspected was some where near the kitchen. Professor Sinistra opened the door to reveal a desk with a chair behind it, to plastic looking backless sofas, a big reclining chair in front of the desk, and another pouf chair in the corner.

"Draco, sit there," She said, pointing to the chair in front of the desk. "We'll start with you." He sat down obediently and Professor Sinistra sat down in the chair behind the desk. Ginny took a seat in the other chair.

"Okay, lets begin," She said. "So what do you dislike about this young lady?"

"She's a Weasley," he said, turning up his nose.

"Yes, we know that, but what about her personality don't you like?"

"She's a Weasley," He said again slower.

"Shocker!" Ginny said holding her hand over her heart," You know, after all these years I never realized I was a Weasley"

"Shut up Weasel," he said coolly.

"Now that won't do," Professor Sinistra said. "We need to be ob a first name basis, and there will be no more mean comments."

Both went silent. Neither had ever used the other's first name.

"Now back to the questioning," Professor Sinistra said. "Now what about her personality don't you like?" Draco shrugged. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well I've never actually talked to her except to annoy her," Draco mumbled.

"As I thought, you may sit down elsewhere Mr. Malfoy. Miss Weasley please sits here."

They switched seats. "Now Miss Weasley. What do you dislike about Mr. Malfoy?"

"He's a Malfoy," She said. Making fun of Draco.

"You little..." He said standing up, but he realized there was a teacher there and promptly sat down.

"Miss Weasley, what do you really dislike about Mr. Malfoy?" She asked.

"He's always an arrogant prick, he thinks he's the top of the school, he's made my like hell since I started Hog warts because I'm a Weasley, he picks on all of my friends, he manipulates his head boy position so he can take points from people he doesn't like, he doesn't have to do any work in potions because he's Snape's favorite, he thinks he's hot stuff just because ..."

Professor Sinistra had cut her off, looking surprised at Ginny's answer. "Well... looks like you do have a reason to dislike him," She looked confused.

"Now Draco," She turned to him," What do you think of Ginny's answer to the question."

"It just proves my point," he said snootily.

"And what point would that be?" Ginny asked.

"That being a Weasley is a bad thing and that is why I dislike you."

"You are so impossible," Ginny said, putting her head in her hands.

"Okay," the professor said, looking confused as to where to go next, "Draco, Do you mind moving that chair next to Ginny's?"

"Not at all," He said sarcastically.

"Have you guys actually ever had a civil conversation?" Professor Sinistra asked.

"No," Ginny shook her head, thinking.

"Then how would you know what the other is really like?" She asked.

"I don't want to know what she's really like, she's a Weasley," Draco drawled.

"I believe that had already been established," Ginny said, borrowing the smirk that was normally placed on the boy's arrogant face, but was absent at the moment.

"Shut up Weaslette," He said.

"Shove it Ferret," She said.

"I thought I told you to stop this!" Professor Sinista said exasperatedly. "You do realize the sooner you guys learn to get along, the sooner you can get out of counseling," She bribed. Both parties went silent.

"Good, now Draco, what do you dislike about Weasleys?"

"They're Weasleys," He said casually.

"ooohhh...that hurt Malfoy," Ginny said.

"Remember our agreement about being on a first name basis." They both visably cringed.

"Okay back to the questioning," Sinistra said,"What exactly do you dislike about Weasleys?"

"Don't know, I've never acutally had a conversation with one," He muttered.

"As I thought. Now Ginny, what do you dislike about Malfoys?"

"Well lets see," Ginny said sarcastically,"They get away with anything because they're rich, they're all death eaters, they're all as arrogant as him, they hate out family for no particular reason, and.oh yeah, his father gave tricked me into getting possessed by Voldemort when I was a little girl," She ranted.

Again Professor Sinistra looked at though this wasn't going at all the way she had predicted it to be. Her mouth hung open in a lopsided way. She gathered her composure back and said," There's no need to stereotype all Malfoy's as being that way. How do you know Draco is not different?"

"I see no proof that he's not," Ginny said.

After two hours of questioning from Sinstra they were finally allowed to leave. Ginny walked back to her dormitory thinking about the session, and wondering if there was any possible way she could get out of it. She smiled widely as she thought about how Malfoy had spent the whole session trying to convince Sinistra how it was perfectly logical to dislike her just because of her surname.

Meanwhile Draco was in his dorm lying on his bed and up at the canvas. He was fuming, how could this teacher not see that his dislike of her was logical? He tried to think of all the things he disliked about her on a personal level and came up with only two.

She's a Weasley

She had the courage to stand up to me


	2. Chapter 2

**Now How Did This Happen**

**Chapter 2**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

They both arrived at the counciling room the next day, which was a Thursday only three weeks into the start of term.

"Weaslette,"he said, nodding in acknowledgement. If it hadn't been an insult it would have almost sounded polite.

"Malfoy," She nodded back. He opened the door and the both stepped inside to see professor Sinistra was already seated behind the desk.

"Hello!" She said. "This session you two will be talking. Pretend I'm not here, the only reason I am is to make sure things don't get out of hand."

Ginny nodded and took a seat on one of the plastic couches. Spending two hours talking to Draco Malfoy was not something she thought of as fun. He sat on the other couch that was parallel to hers.

"So..." she said when nothing had been said for a while. She looked over at Professor Sinistra who was reading a book.

Draco nodded for her to continue.

"How was your summer?" She asked.

"Fine," he answered, although it hadn't been. He wasn't about to tell Weasley his father had tried to force him into becoming a Death Eater. "Yours?" he asked.

"Alright," Ginny answered, there was a moment of awkward silence. "How's School?"

He scowled. "I can't believe I lost Head Boy to Potter! And Mudblood is Head Girl!"

"I was a little surprised, although not unhappy, about Harry's Head Boy position," Ginny admitted. "But how could you not expect Hermione to get Head Girl, her initials are HG, it's fate."

Draco thought about that for a moment and realized she was right. "So how are you and Potter doing?"

"Huh?"

"I thought you two would have been going out by now!" Draco said.

"I dropped my crush on Harry in like, my third year!" Ginny shrieked.

"Oh, so he rejected you," Draco said, eyes glinting as he smirked maliciously.

"No he did not!" Ginny said, and even if her had it was none of Draco Malfoy's business.

Draco smiled patronizingly, "It's okay, I understand."

"Shut up," She growled. So maybe she did have a tiny little crush on Harry. What would he care? Harry didn't.

"Fine fine," he threw his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"How are things with Pansy going Malfoy?"

"Aren't you supposed to use my first name?" Draco said, smirking.

If there hadn't been a teacher present she would have strangled him.

"So how are things going with you and Pansy, Draco?" She asked. The word sounded very strange coming out of her mouth.

"What about her?"

"Aren't you sleeping with her? After all you are the Slytherin God and she's the Slytherin slut." She asked maliciously.

"Ginevra!" Professor Sinistra said. "The least you could do is wait to ask those kind of questions until I'm not here.

Ginny blushed a red that put her hair to shame. "Sorry," she mumbled. She looked up at Draco and realized with some satisfaction that he looked as though he was going to throw up. So he wasn't sleeping with Pansy, interesting. More gossip for the common room.

* * *

The next few days passed at an excruciatingly slow pace, but finally it was Sunday.

At 7:30 in the morning she was awakened by an excited girl jumping on her bed. She looked up and saw the dreamy face of Luna Lovegood staring back at her. She silently cursed herself for giving the Ravenclaw the password to the Gryffindor common room.

"What you doing?" She asked sleepily.

"Coming to get you up?" Luna said happily.

"Why, this is my only day off from Malfoy and you get me up at 7:30, and it's a weekend for gosh sake."

"It's time for breakfast," Luna said as though she hadn't heard.

"But I want to sleep!" Ginny said.

"Sleep later, we're meeting Colin by the lake in an hour."

Oh, so that's what this is about, Ginny thought. She wondered what Colin had up his sleeve this time.

"Fine, I'm coming!" Ginny said angrily, realizing the blond haired girl was not going to quit jumping on her until she got up.

An hour later they were sitting under their tree by the lake waiting for Colin to show up. After the incident in the Ministry of Magic Luna and Ginny had become fast friends. Followed shortly by Colin Creevy. They were often known as the 6th year Trio.

About five minutes after they got there Colin came bounding up, carrying his camera. He was never spotted without his camera.

"You'll never guess what I got a picture of!" Colin practically yelled.

"What?" Luna asked.

"A crumple horned Snorack!" Colin said, pulling a picture out of his jacket pocket. Colin was a tall boy with blond hair and sea green eyes. He was easily excitable and a very avid photographer.

"Oh my gosh!" Luna shrieked, "Where?"

"It was in someone's sock basket of the 7th year Gryffindor boy's dorm!" Colin answered just as excitedly.

"I can't believe I never thought to look there!"

Ginny was trying really hard not to laugh. The last time Colin and Luna had been this excited was when Colin thought he had taken a picture of a nargle. They had both reviewed the picture and excitedly said it was real. When the handed the picture to Ginny she had realized what it actually was, a cut out of a hamster from a pet store magazine from far away.

"I knew we'd find one," Luna said dreamily, looking at the picture of the supposed Snorack.

"Can I see it?" Ginny asked. Luna handed her the picture. She had to hold her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Her friends really were daft sometimes. The picture was actually of Harry's socks with the snitches on it rapped around his Sneakascope. There were two red snitches on the very front that looked like eyes. Sometimes she wondered whether Colin just took these pictures to see if Luna would actually believe it. "Wonderful picture Colin," Ginny said, handing it back to Luna. She decided to humor them, and see it they would figure out what it was.

"Isn't it great!" he said smiling at it and then at Luna.

"Thank you so much!" Luna said, throwing her arms around the boy. "Daddy can put this in The Quibbler."

Ginny had to try really hard to keep from rolling her eyes.

* * *

At lunch her two friends were still talking about the picture and showing them to everyone they knew. On Monday Ginny couldn't resist bringing the it to show Draco. When she arrived he was already there, sitting on the floor. It was the first session in which they would be alone.

"Hello Weasley," He said.

"Back to last names are we?" Ginny asked.

"How was your weekend?" He ignored her comment.

"Fine," she answered. "Yours?"

"Same as normal," he said, "and completly free of me sleeping with Pansy," he added.

"I brought a picture," Ginny said.

"Of what?" he asked, looking suspicious.

"You naked and singing I'm To Sexy," she answered, wondering how her would react.

"How'd you get that picture?" he asked, looking terrified, " you didn't show it to anybody did you!"

By then Ginny was rolling on the floor. He looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"You...actuallt...sing...that...naked," she said, trying to chatch her breath.

Draco looked confused. She decided to enlighten him.

"It's actually a picture of what my friends think is a crumple horned Snorack," she said.

He turned bright red, "you better not tell anybody about that," he said dangerously.

"Don't worry, I won't," Ginny rolled her eyes. Already scheming on how to use this information to destroy him.

* * *

A.N. Hope you liked it. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Now How Did This Happen?**

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Harry Potter

A.N. Wow, I got more than double the reviews I got for the previous chapters telling me to keep this story up! Thank you guys so much, and yes I will continue this story. I chose to delete the third chapter, although it'll still have most of the same events without the much-to-fast moving Draco/Ginny scene. Sorry it took me so long to update. My only excuses are I'm lazy and addicted to Youtube, but I've found a way to use this addiction to my updating advantage, I shall update while the videos are loading! Yes, I'm so smart. I should be updating much more often now. I'm actually going to try to finish this by the end of the summer! Thanks so much once again to those of you who reviewed. Without you this story would be no more.

**Chapter 3**

After Draco was finally satisfied that she wasn't going to tell anybody about his singing habits they started chatting awkwardly as they had all the days before.

"What is it Weasley?" he asked.

"This is getting so boring," she sounded exasperated, "I'm going to have to start bringing my homework."

"I'll join you on that," he sighed.

"But what we really need to do is plan," Ginny said mischievously.

"Plan what?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"How we can get out of here," Ginny said.

"You heard Mcgonagall. We don't get out until we learn to get along."

"Then why don't we?" She asked.

"That's not going to happen Weasley," he said.

"It won't be being nice to each other for the sake of being nice, we're trying to get them to think we're friends so they'll let us out. Oh, and that includes being nice in front of the rest of the school."

Draco nodded reluctantly, "But just until Mcgonagall lets us out right?"

"Yeah, then we go back to how we always were," Ginny said.

"You're on We…Ginny," he said, holding out his hand.

Ginny shook it. They spent the next hour and a half plotting ways to get Mcgonagle to notice their newfound 'friendship'.

The next day was the first that they put their plan in to action. The first thing they did had to be done in a very subtle way and not in front of Mcgonagle so it wouldn't be too obvious.

Ginny and Draco 'accidentally' ran into each other in the hallway before lunch about twenty feet from where Mcgonagall was standing outside her classroom.

"Sorry Ginny," Draco smiled as he helped her pick up her books.

"That's okay Draco," she accepted the books from him as he cleaned up the spilled ink with a whip of his wand.

"Do you want to borrow one of my ink bottles for the day?" he asked, trying to sound concerned, but feeling like he was failing miserably.

"No it's okay. I have one," she said. Draco stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and they walked off together. Congratulating each other on a wonderful performance.

"They really think I'm stupid don't they," Professor Mcgonagall said to herself as they walked off, "but this is exactly what I hoped would happen. They're working together, and it's been less than a week."

By now passerby were staring at the mumbling professor so she stopped, with the resolution that from now on she would keep her thoughts in her head. The last thing she needed was concerned parents calling and asking about the school's crazy teachers.

Unfortunately for Ginny the day took a sudden plummet. At 4:00 Harry had come up to her and asked her if he could talk to her about something. Ginny was praying with all her willpower that he would finally ask her out.

So maybe Ginny did still have a crush on Harry, but it had been none of Draco's business anyway. It wasn't the my-stomach-flips-every-time-I-see-him crush, she had gotten over that years ago, but that didn't change the fact that she thought he was a great guy and that they would make a good couple.

He led her into an empty classroom somewhere near the Transfiguration room. They had a half and hour break so Ginny wasn't worried about getting to class on time.

"Ginny, there's this girl I really like, you know her very well, but she's my friend, and I don't really want to ruin that. I'm also afraid that if we become a couple, Voldemort will use her to get to me. I don't want to put anyone in that situation. I've just never felt this way about anyone before, and I feel that if I don't do something now she'll be gone to someone else, and I'll never have the chance," Harry finished.

Ginny's heart was in her throat now, "Just ask her Harry," she said hurriedly, "It's her choice whether she wants to put herself in that situation, and who knows," she added, "She could be just sitting around pinning away over you."

"Thanks Ginny, there's someone I need to go find," There was a deep-set resolution in his eyes that Ginny had never seen there before.

It wasn't until after he left that Ginny realized the full implications of the last thing he said, "It wasn't me," she muttered. Her heart dropped like a rock to her feet.

At dinner Ginny found out who the real person Harry was talking about was, and she wasn't happy.

Luna was sitting next to her and kept throwing her nervous glances that made Ginny very uncomfortable.

"Just tell me what's wrong will you?" Ginny asked irritably.

"Well um Ginny, this afternoon….You might want to be sitting down for this," Luna said. Her eyes still looked dreamy, but there was fear etched in them as well.

"I am sitting down," Ginny said. She had the distinct feeling that whatever Luna had to say had something to do with the conversation she had with Harry that afternoon.

"Um Ginny, Harry asked me to be his girlfriend this afternoon," she said, all in one breath.

"What did you say," Ginny tried to make her voice sound casual, but even she could hear the dangerous undertone.

"I said I had to talk to you first," Luna said.

"Well…?"

"Will you let me?" Luna asked. "I never told you this because I knew how you felt about him, but I've been thinking about Harry a lot recently. I think I'm in love with him."

Ginny let that sink in and sighed. Ginny knew that her crush on Harry was no where near love, and if Luna thought her's was, who was Ginny to stop her, "What would you do if I wasn't hear?"

"I'd do it," she mumbled truthfully, looking at her feet.

"Go ahead then," Ginny said, "I'll be fine."

Luna smiled a thankful smile and rushed across the room to where Harry was sitting. She couldn't help but notice she wasn't the only one with a sour look on her face. Colin was staring at the pair with the saddest look on his face that Ginny could ever remember seeing. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before. Colin was in love with Luna.

When Ginny arrived in the counseling room that night she was in a very bad mood. In reality she wasn't fine. Harry's way of asking for advice had lead her on quite cruelly. To make matters worse the only homework she had to do that night was potions.

"Hello Ginny," Draco didn't even look up from his Astronomy Chart as she walked in.

"Hello," She said stonily.

"What's wrong?" He asked exasperatedly

"Nothing," There was finality in her tone that told him there was to be no more questioning on the subject. He could tell that whatever it was clearly wasn't nothing, however.

A few minutes later he looked up to see tears dripping from her large brown eyes onto the parchment. It struck him in that instant just how beautiful she really was. Her vibrant red hair glimmered in the lamplight as it cascaded down her shoulder and onto her chest. Her face was crunched in an expression of shame and hurt.

Suddenly he realized just what he had been thinking and smacked himself on the forehead. He actually literally hit himself on the head.

"Ouch," He said shockedly, as though he hadn't expected it to hurt.

Ginny looked at him quizzically. He just shook his head in a 'don't ask', way.

After a few moments of listening to her sniffles, Draco was getting fed up.

"Ginny, I may be wrong, but generally when someone is crying, it's not for no reason," He drawled, a little concerned despite himself.

"It's really nothing," She answered, "I don't even know why I'm so upset about it."

"Then don't cry about it," He told her. Women crying was one of his biggest pet peeves and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

Ginny glared at him, "Thank you, that's very helpful."

"Okay," he sighed, hoping that if she got whatever it was off her chest she would stop that god-awful crying. "What's wrong?"

She gave him another questioning look, "It's really nothing."

He sighed again and shook his head, "As I pointed out before, you're crying. That generally implies that something happened."

She glared at him.

Draco inspected the girl for a minute before realization dawned on his face.

"It's Potty isn't it?" He asked.

His sudden use of Harry's pet name made Ginny spit out a shocked laugh. She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to him,"Bingo."

He looked disgusted, "Why would you get so worked up about Potty. His only redeeming feature is well...nothing," he began, "Now if you want to pine away over someone, there are many better options take me for example. Not only am I incredibly sexy, but I have class and money," he said snootily.

This made Ginny laugh even harder. "I can't believe how stupid I've been," she groaned dramatically, "All those years I could have been crying over you, wasted." Her tears were starting to dry up. Draco felt extremely relieved.

"Well, at least you've realized your mistake. Try to do better next time," he told her. It didn't occur to him that he was actually being nice.

"I'll try," She said, trying to sound ashamed of herself.

"Don't disappoint me again," he told her.

"I won't," she said decisively.

It was amazing how much their nonsensical conversation had cheered her up. When it was finally time for them to leave, she felt immensely better.

"Thank you," she muttered to Draco as she left the room.

"Accepted."

Hope you like the revised version. Thanks for waiting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Now How Did This Happen**

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Harry Potter

A.N. Well, I'm getting a little better about updating. It's only been a little over a month and in that time I've been on two vacations. Aren't you guys proud of me? As I have the rest of the summer off hopefully I can motivate myself to have at least semi-regular updates. Thanks again to all who reviewed. Oh, and this may come as a shock, but this fanfiction does have a plot! It starts coming into play in this chapter.

**Chapter 4**

Ginny, as could be expected, was quite shocked. For hours she laid, sprawled haphazardly across her bed, thinking about the night's occurrences. It had never even crossed her mind that somewhere inside Draco's arrogant exterior there could be a small portion of something nice. Tonight she had seen what she would have thought impossible; a kind side of Draco.

Draco, on the other hand, was quite disgusted. He too laid awake for many hours thinking over what had happened that night, but his thoughts were quite different from hers. He hadn't even realized until after he left the counseling room that he had been being what most people would call 'nice', and to a Weasley. He comforted himself with the thought that it had only been to get her to stop crying, but somewhere in the back of his mind a small, nagging voice told him otherwise, and if what it was saying wasn't true, then why did it make him so uncomfortable.

The next morning Ginny was awakened by an extremely loud beeping from somewhere in her naval. Quite disconcerted, she sat up immediately to try to determine the source, as she figured bodily beeping was probably not a good sign.

It wasn't until she was almost in a sitting position that she realized she had fallen asleep stretched out across her bedside table. She had no idea how exactly it was that she had gotten there, but she was somewhat comforted to find out that the beeping was coming from her alarm clock and not from her. That is, until the pain registered.

Groaning, she sat back against her pillow, not even bothering to turn off her alarm clock. Apparently it was not a good idea to sleep on one's table, as her whole body now horrendously ached.

"STOP THAT INFERNAL BEEPING!" yelled Augustine Finch, the most irritable of her three roommates, before leaning back down on her head and pulling a pillow over her ears.

"Oh, sorry," Ginny mumbled, muttering a spell to silence the clock. It was then that she noticed what time it was; 5:30 am.

Groaning again, she bashed her head quite unceremoniously against the wall, to which Augustine growled.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, lying back down.

She had not idea how her alarm clock had been set for so early. She supposed she must have pressed some very wrong buttons while she was laying on it. And she had only just gotten to sleep two hours ago too. Ah well, there was no way she was getting back to sleep now.

Sighing deeply, she made her way into the common room and flopped down on the couch. The rest of the dorm was silent. She sighed again, wishing she could join them in their glorious sleep.

She got her wish. Within the next ten minutes she was asleep.

About an hour and a half later the earliest of the Gryffindors began to make their way into the common room. None of them seemed terribly inclined to awaken Ginny, as she was known to have a nasty temper, so she just slept straight through.

By the time any of her friends got down, there was only forty-five minutes until breakfast was over.

She finally awakened to find Colin's rather large head swimming in and out of focus above her own. "Ginny?" he asked.

"Wha?" she murmured sleepily.

"It's 8:00," he stated shortly.

There wasn't even a pause between the finishing of his comment and Ginny's rather graceful leap into a standing position, which, of course, knocked Colin backwards onto the floor.

"Sorry," she said distractedly as she sprinted upstairs to the dorm, not even looking back to see if he was okay.

He sadly rubbed his head, "I guess that's what I get," he muttered to the side of the sofa.

Before he could even retake his previous standing position Ginny was downstairs and at his side.

"What are you doing down there?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

He just sighed and shook his head.

* * *

Draco, on the other hand, woke up to a loud rapping on the window of his dormitory. He slowly removed himself from his bed, not even bothering to be silent. His only dorm mates were Crabb, Goyle, and Blaise, who all slept like the dead. The incessant tapping hadn't even stirred them.

The owl at the window was his father's: expensive and refined, just like everything they owned.

He wondered idly what had happened this time. He only received letters from his father in his dorm, and the news was always something dire.

Draco wrenched the window open and the owl stepped gracefully onto the sill, sticking out it's handsome, well-groomed leg on which was a scroll tied with a piece of black ribbon and stamped with the Malfoy crest.

As soon as he removed the message the owl was gone, lost in the early morning light. So his father didn't expect a response.

Taking a deep breath Draco unfolded the scroll to find his father's elegant handwriting.

Draco,

The time has come at last for you to join us. With the impending war your help could be imperative. This coming weekend I expect you to meet me at the side of the lake closest to the forbidden forest.

Lucious Malfoy

The letter was everything his father was: Cool, curt, and unemotional. Draco felt no emotion as he read. He had known the time was coming soon. He had been prepared for this day since he was a small child. It was his duty, and even though he felt no real desire to participate, and he would fulfill it.

Without really thinking about it, Draco got dressed and made his way down to breakfast. It was still quite early, maybe 6:30, and the only people there were a few tired-looking Ravenclaws hunched over ridiculously large books.

He smirked at a group of girls as he made his way past. They cowered behind their books. His smirk widened.

Draco would have no trouble leaving for a weekend. The teachers weren't really terribly concerned with the comings and goings of students on their breaks, and he was sure Ginny would be happy for the time away from him.

He leaned back in his chair and gracefully flicked a piece of white-blonde hair from his face, thinking of the past. Draco almost always thought of the past. For him, the future had always been a thing of uncertainty that was best left alone. It would come when it came, and there was not use dwelling on it.

People started to trickle in more and more around 7:15 and by 7:45 they were entering in droves.

Blaise showed up with the earlier crowds and tried to make conversation, but after awhile of annoyingly awkward silence he gave up and just focused on eating.

At 8:15 he watched a very hurried looking Ginny, dragging Colin Creevy quite unceremoniously by the hand, push past all the crowds and take a seat next to Luna, who looked suspiciously like she was waiting for someone.

It became apparent whom when Harry Potter walked in. He smiled lightly as Ginny very conspicuously turned away from the couple and began talking to Creevy. They didn't even seem to notice.

* * *

For the most part, the counseling session was completed in silence. Neither had any idea what to say, and even if they had, the atmosphere of the room conveyed that noise was neither needed nor wanted.

Finally, as they were about to leave, Draco finally turned to her.

"I just wanted to let you know that this will be our last session until Monday," he said curtly as he picked his stuff up off the floor.

This got Ginny's attention, "What? Why?"

"My father is taking me out for the weekend. We have an important event to attend."

Ginny nodded, "Okay," she said suspiciously. "Well, I guess I'll see you Monday then," she muttered as she opened the classroom door.

"Maybe," he whispered at her retreating back. In truth he had no idea whether he would ever return to Hogwarts. If Voldemort needed him, he would be gone in a second.

As he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling for the second night in a row, he let his mind wonder to the future. He wondered if maybe he should pack his stuff, as he might not be coming back, but he figured that would be a little to conspicuous. He had to admit he would miss this place; it marked his brief stint of childhood.

Ever since he could remember he had been living life with the burdens of an adult. Hogwarts had allowed him to be his own age for once in his short life.

He didn't resent his father. He didn't resent the Death Eaters. He didn't resent Voldemort. It was expected for him to be mature and jaded so he could manipulate the naiveties of others.

Draco's life had never been one of freedom. He had known that since he was old enough to spell his name. His decisions were made for him, and he was not to go against or be displeased with them in any way. He was a pawn.

Ginny, of course, was quite suspicious about the 'important event' Draco had mentioned. All she had known about Draco Malfoy before they started their counseling sessions suggested that this meeting was his Death Eater initiation, but she couldn't bring herself to mention it to anyone. Dumbledore, of course, must know Draco was leaving, and he hadn't done anything about it. She decided not to worry for the moment. There was no use jumping to conclusions.

* * *

For Draco the night went all too quickly and before he knew it he was standing at the edge of the lake with his back to the forbidden forest. It was cold, and he was shivering slightly.

"Draco," A sharp, cold voice said behind him. He jumped a few inches off the ground. He managed to turn himself on the decent, and by the time he reached the ground he was facing his father.

"Hello father," he said composedly. It was a Malfoy trait to be able to compose oneself on extremely short notice. He hadn't quite reached his father's level of being able to show no unintended emotion whatsoever, but he was getting close.

"Come," he said, waving his hand towards the forest. As soon as they were inside the forest he was instructed to apparate (which he had been able to do since long before he was 17) to the Malfoy mansion, which he did without even a sign of recognition that he had heard the man.

He apparated directly into the entrance hall, where he was surprised to find he was surrounded by numerous Death Eaters. They didn't even speak when he arrived, but he could feel an air of malicious tension. He wondered if this was how it felt to be on trial for murder.

A second later his dad appeared beside him with a 'pop'. The tension in the air got even more pronounced.

"Are we ready to begin Lucious?" One asked. It was impossible to tell which one. They all seemed to blur together.

Lucious nodded curtly. All the Death Eaters turned and made their way into the main sitting room, Lucious taking up the rear. Draco figured this was his cue to follow.

He carefully shut the door behind him as he entered and turned to see all the Death Eaters in a circular formation, all staring in his direction. Lucious motioned for him to walk to the center.

It was the most awkward walk he had ever taken. By the time he reached the center he was almost shaking, but his Malfoy breeding allowed him to resist the urge.

They all stood in silence for a few moments. Draco wondered if he was supposed to be doing something, but no one seemed inclined to tell him.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, everything finally came clear. With a loud, deafening 'crack' –much louder than the regular pop- a tall, clocked figure appeared beside him.

The figure emanated darkness. Just being around him filled Draco with terror. This figure was Voldemort.

"As you all know," He hissed, sounding very much like a snake, "You are all here to oversee the initiation of the son of Lucious Malfoy, one of my most trusted followers." He paused, supposedly waiting for some sort of answer, but he didn't seem surprised when one never came.

"Come here boy," he told Draco.

Draco carefully arranged his face into one of cool composure, hoping against all hope that he was fooling the man in front of him. Carefully he took one step forward and then another until he was standing face to face with Voldemort. He could see his slit-like red eyes through the mask.

'State your name."

"Draco Lucious Malfoy," Draco said coolly.

"Draco Lucious Malfoy, do you agree to follow me with complete devotion and never stray from my path again?"

"Yes," Draco bowed his head, waiting for the Dark Lord to say something else. It never happened.

All that came next was Voldemort yanking his shirtsleeve roughly up and placing his finger on the upper part of his arm. There was a searing pain and the Dark Mark appeared on his arm.

"Good," Voldemort said before turning to the rest of the group, "I'll leave you to discuss his first mission with him. I have important business to attend to." With another 'crack' he was gone.

Through all of this Draco had been so stunned he was unable to move. He had expected the initiation to be a little, well, harder. He wondered if that was really all there was to it.

There was another long, drawn out silence. Draco had a sneaking feeling all the Death Eaters were as shocked as he was.

Finally Lucious stepped out of the circle, "We have decided your first mission." Draco had to hold his confusion in. Did Lucious mean they had decided while they were standing there? When? How? They hadn't even moved. He decided to let it go for the moment.

He nodded for Lucious to continue.

"I understand you have been undergoing counseling sessions with one Ginny Weasley?" Lucious asked.

He nodded again.

"Good, that will make this easier," Draco didn't like the sound of that. Did his first mission have something to do with Ginny, "Well, in short, we want you to seduce her."

Draco coughed, "What?"

"We want you to seduce her," he repeated, "You know, get her to trust you so she'll tell you the Order's secrets. With all her family connections even if she is not in the Order chances are she'll still no more than other outsiders."

He opened his mouth to argue, "You have agreed to be ever faithful, did you not?" Lucious said, warning in his voice.

Draco snapped his mouth shut and nodded. Although he didn't like the idea, he decided then and there that he would do whatever it took to complete the mission; to prove himself; to become an even more perfect pawn. He had nothing else.


End file.
